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Boston Dynamics Makes New Atlas 'Order of Magnitude' Simpler to Build, Opening a Path to Mass-Produced Humanoids
Ep. 110 03:33

Boston Dynamics Makes New Atlas 'Order of Magnitude' Simpler to Build, Opening a Path to Mass-Produced Humanoids

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About This Episode

In a Forbes exclusive on July 2, Boston Dynamics revealed its fifth-generation Atlas humanoid is 'almost an order of magnitude' simpler to build, with far fewer and less unique parts, making it cheaper and more reliable to manufacture. Director of Robot Behavior Alberto Rodriguez says performance is equal or better and that software, not hardware, is now the limiting factor. Parent company Hyundai plans to build at least 30,000 units a year.

Our Take

The hardest humanoid on Earth just got an order of magnitude cheaper to build, and its own engineers say the body is basically solved — so the only thing still standing between mass-produced robots and your job is software.